Five years of helping the homeless

Education minister Peter Fassbender and Langley MLA Mary Polak chat before sitting down to dinner at the fifth anniversary celebration for the Gateway of Hope homeless shelter in Langley. Other dignitaries who attended the Tuesday event included mayors Jack Froese and Ted Schaffer and MLA Rich Coleman.

The dining room that normally serves meals for the needy hosted a lunch for a group of senior politicians and other dignitaries at the Salvation Army Gateway of Hope in Langley on Tuesday, Dec. 2.

It was the fifth anniversary of the 31,000-square-foot, three-storey shelter at 5787 Langley Bypass that can accommodate up to 55 people.

The mayors of the Langleys, Jack Froese and Ted Schaffer were there.

So was education minister Minister Peter Fassbender, the former Langley city mayor, as well as Langley MLA and environment minister Mary Polak and Fort Langley-Aldergrove MLA Rich Coleman, the provincial Minister Responsible for Housing.

“The Gateway of Hope is an example of what can be accomplished when we work together,” Coleman said.

“It does not seem possible that is has been operating for five years already,” Polak said.

Fassbender said Langley supplied the building, but “The Salvation Army put the heart in it.”

Jim Coggles, the Executive Director of Gateway of Hope, said the shelter wants to continue “to be a welcoming presence in the community, where those who need help can find it.’